If Fate Were Fickle
by lucawindmover
Summary: For the "Lucawindmover's Zutara Oneshot Challenge" Prince Zuko has captured the Avatar's waterbender and is waiting for the pirates to bring the boy. What is he supposed to do with the girl in the meantime?


A/N: This is a challenge fic written for the "Lucawindmover's Zutara Oneshot Challenge." If anyone else would like to join the challenge, contact Lucawindmover.

Also, the first few lines of dialogue are lifted from the episode "The Waterbending Scroll" and I don't pretend that they are my own. But in order to start my story, I needed this as a set-up. I am not trying to steal it or plagiarize. Please, no flames about it. Pm me if necessary.

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><p>"If Fate Were Fickle"<p>

By Lucawindmover

"Go jump in the river!" Katara shouted, glowering at the banished Prince. There was no way she was going to give up Aang. Was he crazy? How could he even think that she would betray her best friend?

"Try to understand," Prince Zuko said, moving closer to where he had the waterbender tied to a tree. "I need to capture him to restore something I've lost. My honor." He tried to reason with her, walking behind the tree and around to her left side. She was resolutely looking away.

"Perhaps in exchange, I can restore something that you've lost," he said quietly, bringing his face close to hers over her shoulder. He reached around the tree and held Katara's necklace up to her throat.

Katara gasped. "My mother's necklace?" She said in surprise. "How did you get that?" she asked, glaring at her captor.

Zuko moved away, turning back to look at her. He smirked. "I didn't _steal_ it if that's what you're wondering." He narrowed his eyes, pointing a finger in her direction. "Now tell me where he is."

"No!"

At this point the captain of the pirates intervened, telling Zuko that he was tired of playing games. When the prince threatened to burn up the expensive waterbending scroll, the captain backed down. Zuko ordered them to search the woods for the Avatar and they complied. Zuko's own crew spread out to do the same, leaving their leader with the captive.

Zuko stomped a little distance away from the waterbender and took a seat on the ground, arms and legs crossed. He narrowed his eyes toward the girl, who glared at him in return. He knew now that she wouldn't be talking, not even for her beloved necklace. He was really frustrated that his plan hadn't worked. He hadn't banked on the waterbender being so stubborn.

"Prince Zuko, I'll make a fire and some tea while we wait."

Zuko rolled his eyes. "Fine Uncle." That would mean the old man would have to go back to the ship, giving him a few minutes alone with the prisoner. He could question her better without an audience.

But Iroh smiled broadly, pulling out the supplies for tea-making from his generous sleeves. Zuko furrowed his brow in confusion. "You brought all of that from the ship?"

Iroh shrugged. "You never know when you will need a good cup of tea," he said as he went about setting up his supplies to brew a nice pot of Leeche Nut tea. He preferred something nice and sweet at this hour.

"Wait," Zuko said, uncrossing his arms and gesturing. "You just carry all of that all the time?"

Iroh laughed. "Oh no, Prince Zuko. I only carry it for special occasions."

Zuko sputtered. "What in Agni's name made you think _this_ was a special occasion?"

At the sound of laughter, he whipped his head around to see that his prisoner had tears of mirth streaming down her cheeks. "And what do you think is so funny, water peasant?" he snapped, crossing his arms again.

Katara just continued to laugh, watching as the banished prince became more and more angry. It seemed that the littlest things could set him off and the waterbender couldn't help how amusing she found it. Besides, she was exhausted. When she was tired she had a habit of laughing at the most inappropriate moments.

Zuko jumped up from his seat and stalked over to her. He pointed a finger in her face, almost touching her nose, and said, "You better quit your laughing. You'll give us all away!"

Katara bit her lip, her eyes still full of humor. It took a moment, but as what he said started to filter in, her eyes took on a whole new dimension. Zuko seemed to recognize this at the same time. Just as she opened her mouth to start shouting, the firebender blocked the noise with his hand. All she managed was muffled grumbling against his palm.

"Uncle," Zuko barked over his shoulder. "Bring me something to gag her with."

He heard his uncle sigh but obey. He brought his nephew a silk handkerchief, folded into a long strip. Zuko let go of Katara's mouth long enough to wrap the gag around her head and tie it in the back.

She didn't make it easy. She bit his hand at least once, though not deep enough to draw blood. She pulled her head to the left and right but found pretty quickly that she was doing more harm to herself than to the enemy. All the struggling was making the bonds on her wrists pull and chafe, not to mention what the bark of the tree was doing to her back through the fabric of her clothes.

Finally Zuko stepped back to admire his handy work. The waterbender glared daggers at him over the newly-tied gag. He could hear her muttering all sorts of things that he couldn't understand and it made him chuckle. He turned his back on her and went back to where his uncle had resumed making tea.

As he settled down, his uncle asked, "Are you sure that isn't more force than is necessary?"

Zuko shrugged and took the cup of tea he was being offered. "She was going to start yelling and trying to warn the Avatar. We would have completely lost the element of surprise."

Iroh sighed. The boy had a point. But the general didn't approve of binding and gagging the young girl. It seemed cruel to him. He looked up and saw that the girl was crying now. She'd stopped pulling at her wrists, which was good because it had only been making things worse. But she was looking down at the ground with such despair that Iroh couldn't help but put his foot down.

"Nephew, if she promises not to start yelling, please take the gag off of her," Iroh said, somehow turning a request into an order.

Zuko huffed and didn't move. Iroh, with his lips set in a firm line, heaved himself up from the ground and turned toward their captive. "Young lady, if I have my nephew remove the gag, will you promise to stay quiet and not try to alert the Avatar?"

Katara looked like she wanted to argue, but eventually nodded. Zuko sighed and rolled his eyes. Honestly, his uncle was a big softy most of the time. He was sure the man wouldn't even want the Avatar bound and gagged. Zuko strode over to the waterbender and untied the gag. He could feel the girl shiver as his fingers graced the back of her neck. He felt a disconcerting warmth in his belly, being this close to her, and it made him angry. He didn't like how she made him feel uncomfortable.

He left the cloth draped around her neck. "Don't think I won't hesitate to reuse this if you so much as think of yelling for help. No amount of pleading from my uncle will save you a second time. Do you understand?"

The waterbender continued to glare but didn't answer.

"I said do you understand?" Zuko asked again, nearly shouting this time. Katara's belly squirmed at him being so close to her. His nose couldn't have been more than a few inches away from hers. She could feel the heat rolling off of him as if he were fire itself, rather than just a bender. Her eyes narrowed a bit as she responded, "Yes, I understand."

Katara glowered at the retreating back of the Fire Prince. She wanted to say something mean and hateful, but most of the things she thought of she couldn't bring herself to say. She blushed for even thinking them. For a moment she thought about yelling and making a bunch of noise just to spite the spoiled prince. But one look at the old general who saved her kept her from doing it. The man might have been Fire Nation, but he had spoken for her when no one else had. She wouldn't betray him like that, even though she would like to warn the others.

At the moment, however, she decided she didn't want to draw any attention to herself. In her struggle against being gagged, Katara had managed to loosen the rope around her wrists. She kept an eye on Zuko and his uncle as she slipped through the last of the rope and let it fall quietly to the ground. She wasn't sure what to do next. She didn't know enough waterbending to use it in a fight and she was pretty sure she couldn't run fast enough to escape the firebenders. Perhaps the old general, but not Zuko.

She watched as the old man poured his nephew another cup of tea. She could tell that they were both tired. She couldn't help but yawn herself. After a little while, General Iroh turned and laid on his side to get a little rest. Katara had hoped Zuko would do the same, but the young man was too smart for that. He reclined on his hands, not facing her but keeping her in sight none-the-less. In another few minutes she could see his head starting to nod forward a little and she figured this was as good a chance as she was going to get.

Katara took a deep breath and started to move away from the tree, heading toward the river. Even though she knew she didn't have any offensive waterbending forms under her belt yet, she still felt better heading in that direction. She couldn't outrun her enemy on land but maybe there was some way she could out-distance him on water.

But she was having a hard time. She didn't want to take her eyes off of the prince. She didn't want him to sneak up on her like he had before. But she really needed her eyes to see ahead of her. The shore, which seemed soft and sandy from a distance, was actually dotted with quite a few slippery rocks. She couldn't take more than a couple of steps without looking down at her feet. It was slow going and she just knew she'd never make it to the river before Zuko noticed that she was gone.

She glanced back at the prince one more time. As she did so, her left foot hit a slick rock and she went down hard. She tried not to make a sound as she hit the sand, but somehow Zuko heard her. He jerked himself awake, instantly seeing that she wasn't at the tree any more. He jumped to his feet at the same time that she did. As she took off for the river at a run. Zuko turned around and spotted her. He bounded toward her with fury in his eyes. After noting his longer stride, Katara knew she had been right to assume she couldn't outrun him on land.

She was only a few more feet away from the edge of the water when she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist. He tried to jerk her backward, but with the loose footing in the sand, only managed to slow her down. She got one foot to the water and used her arms to pull up a wave, washing over them both. She wriggled in his arms but was unable to get free. He started to pull her back from the water and she tried desperately to pull a water whip from the river. The water didn't respond and before she knew it she was back on dry land.

Well, dry being a relative term. She and the prince and half the beach were dripping wet from the few waves she had been able to call to her rescue.

Zuko clamped a hand over her mouth, his other arm still firmly around her waist, pulling her body tightly against his. Katara blushed at being held so closely by a boy, even if he was the enemy. It humiliated her as he half-dragged, half-carried her back to the tree and spun her around. She thought about yelling but the murderous look in the prince's eye made her think twice.

He jerked her down into a sitting position before pulling her arms back around the tree and tying them securely.

"Why won't you just let me go? I'm not going to help you!" Katara finally grumbled.

Zuko huffed. "I told you already. Once I have the Avatar, you're free to go."

Katara didn't believe it for a minute. She sighed and prepared herself for him to walk back around the front of the tree.

He didn't.

Zuko wasn't about to let her try and escape a second time. He wanted to tie her feet up too but he only had the one length of rope at his disposal. Instead, he sat and leaned against the tree. Her hands were stuck in the space between the tree and his lower back. This way, he wouldn't have to keep his eyes on her to know if she was trying to escape. There was no where she could go without her hands and he would feel it if she tried to get them untied again.

Katara clenched her jaw shut, frustrated with herself for the blush that stained her cheeks. Her only consolation was that the prince couldn't see her blushing.

"You know, you are really stubborn," Zuko said, crossing his arms and leaning his head back against the tree.

"Ha!" Katara said. "Now there's the pot calling the kettle black."

"What are you talking about?"

Katara laughed though her tone held no humor. "You don't think _you're_ the stubborn one?"

Zuko snorted. "I'm not stubborn. I'm persistent."

"That's the same thing!"

"No, it's not!"

"Yes, it is!"

"Bah!" Zuko said, growling in frustration. "Why do you have to argue with everything I say?"

"Why do you have to keep trying to capture me and my friends?"

"I already told you," Zuko said, dropping his voice. "I need to take the Avatar back to my father. I need to restore my honor."

Katara paused. She pursed her lips, thinking. "How did you lose your honor?" she asked, quietly.

She didn't think he was going to answer. He'd gotten way too quiet.

"I don't want to talk about it," he said.

"Okay," Katara said. "Well, how long have you been away from home?"

Another long pause.

"I don't want to talk about that, either."

Katara sighed. "What _do_ you want to talk about?"

Zuko smirked. "Probably catching the Avatar."

They both laughed softly.

Zuko yawned. Katara heard him and it made her yawn too.

"Look, it's almost dawn and you haven't slept at all," Zuko started. "Would you just go to sleep and not try to escape? You can try again in the morning, if you feel like you have to."

The waterbender thought about it for a moment. She wasn't sure what he was after, but he was right about one thing. She needed sleep. "You want me to tell you I won't try to escape?"

Zuko thought about it for a second. "Well, yeah I guess so. Will you promise?"

"Why would I do that?"

Zuko groaned in frustration. "Look, I was going to untie you from the tree if you would promise, but if you're going to be annoying I'll just leave you here!"

Katara was about to respond when they both heard the sound of someone crashing through the underbrush. Zuko leapt to his feet and came around the front side of the tree. He grabbed Katara by her upper arms and pulled her to standing. She grumbled about her feet being asleep but Zuko was no longer focused on her. He was watching at the pirates brought their two prisoners into camp.

"Zuko," Katara said. "Please don't do this."

Zuko didn't turn around. "I'm sorry," he said, softly. "But I have to."

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><p>AN: So let me know what you think. This was a lot of fun to write. I tried to make it a scene that could have happened in the series, a missing moment kind of scene. I love to write those.

Also, I now have set up a separate Facebook account for my writing! www . facebook . com/Lucawindmover (minus the spaces). This is a great way to keep informed about updates, brainstorming, ask questions and give feedback. For authors, it's a great way to bounce ideas and keep in touch. I hope you will all friend-request me. It's been a lot of fun using this account to keep up with writing!

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender and I make no money from my stories. I just really enjoy tormenting the wonderful characters that have been provided for us.


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